领跑先进制程，英特尔450mm晶圆厂已于1月动工

英特尔(Intel)的发言人透露，该公司第一座18吋(450mm)晶圆厂计划自2013年1月起「顺利展开」，该座代号为D1X第二期( module 2)的晶圆厂已经低调动土。 据了解，英特尔打算将D1X 第二期作为量产18吋晶圆IC的研发晶圆厂；该公司在2012年12月就透露正准备扩充D1X厂区，以「容纳新的制造技术」，但该信息仅低调地在美国奥勒冈州当地媒体曝光，并没有公布在公司官网。 英特尔D1X厂的第一期工程预期会是该公司第一条以12吋晶圆生产14奈米FinFET芯片的生产线；而英特尔在2012年10月时曾表示，将在2013年展开D1X第二期工程建设，预计两年完工，2015年装机、2016年开始生产。 D1X第二期厂房也可能与现有的D1X有所连结，包括无尘室的连线；根据英特尔发言人表示，该厂房取得必要的许可之后已经在1月动工，造价约20亿美元(不包括设备)，但该厂的运转时程表尚未定案。 英特尔发言人表示：「我们还未公布该厂的上线时程，因为还未决定何时将展开18吋晶圆生产，以及将采用的制程节点。」 晶圆代工业者台积电(TSMC)也透露过18吋晶圆制造发展计划，该公司在2012年6月表示，将在2014年初在台湾中部兴建一座18吋晶圆厂，包括设备在内的总成本约80亿美元，待2019年开始运转，预期每月可创造67亿美元营收。 台积电在2011年亦曾表示，计划在现有晶圆厂──包括新竹的Fab12与台中的Fab15──装设18吋晶圆试产线。 编译：Judith Cheng 参考原文： Construction of 450mm Fab 'Well Underway'，by Peter Clarke {pagination} The construction of Intel's first wafer fab for processing 450mm diameter wafers is "well underway," having started in January 2013, an Intel spokesperson tells EE Times. The fab -- known as D1X module 2 -- is intended to be a development fab for production of ICs on 450mm diameter wafers. However, the breaking of ground for the wafer fab was not widely reported at the time it occurred. Intel did announce in October 2012 that it was seeking permission to expand D1X with a second module, to accommodate "new manufacturing technology," but it only distributed the press release to local Oregon press and did not post the news on its website. The first D1X module is expected to be the first wafer fab to produce 14nm FinFET chips for Intel on 300mm diameter wafers. Back in October 2012 Intel said construction of D1X module 2 would begin in 2013 and take more than two years to complete, with wafer manufacturing equipment installation expected to begin in 2015, which would put first wafers out in 2016. D1X module 2 is also expected to be connected to the existing D1X with the likelihood that this will include a link between clean rooms. Construction of D1X module 2 began in January 2013 after the necessary permissions were obtained, according to an Intel spokesperson. The fab is expected to cost $2 billion, not including equipment, but there is no schedule for when the fab will start, the spokesperson added. "We have not said when it will come online because we have not said when we expect to have 450mm wafer production. Nor have we forecast a process node for 450mm," the spokesperson said in email to EE Times. Intel rival foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is the only other company with any sort of development push on 450mm production. Back in June 2012 it was reported that the Taiwanese government had approved a proposal to build a 450mm wafer fab in central Taiwan early in 2014. The total cost, including equipment, was expected to be about $8 billion, but the fab was predicted to be capable of producing wafers with a value of about $6.7 billion per year in 2019. TSMC said back in 2011 that it planned to install 450mm pilot lines within a couple of established wafer fabs -- Fab 12 in Hsinchu and Fab 15 in Taichung, Taiwan.

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